Tech XC Off To 2011 ACC Championships

The men’s and women’s cross country teams return to the track when they take part in the 2011 ACC Championships on October 29 held at the Musser Farms Course in Clemson, S.C. The men’s 8k race will start at 10:00 a.m., followed by the women’s 6k competition at 11:00 a.m.

The men’s team is coming off of a first place showing at the Crimson Classic down in Tuscaloosa after going against some tough SEC competition as well as some regionally ranked teams. Patrick Barron (fifth, 25:10.33) and Shawn Roberts (10th, 25:30.12) finished in the top-10 for the Jackets who netted just 83 points at the meet.

The women’s team earned a ninth place showing in the 25 team race as they were led by newcomer Katie Townsend who had a 40th place finish in 18:47.16.

In the men’s rankings, Florida State enters the championship as the highest ranked ACC team at No. 18 nationally, while NC State is 19th and North Carolina 30th.

The women’s race will feature five schools ranked in the Top 30 of the USTFCCCA poll. Florida State enters the championship as the nation’s top-ranked team. The Seminoles are followed by Virginia 17th, NC State 21st, North Carolina 22nd and Boston College 24th.

At last year’s conference championship meet in Boston, Mass., Florida State made a clean sweep of the team titles, capturing its first-ever ACC men’s championship and its third-straight women’s title.

Both the men’s and women’s teams finished 11th at last year’s championships as the men’s team was led by D.J. McMillan while the women’s team was paced by Mary Kate DuBard.

Check back in with RamblinWreck.com or the ACC Championships website for results after the race.